Bizarrely, Tonight marks the tenth anniversary of the first time your reviewer saw THE FRANK AND WALTERS live. At the time, the Cork trio were unequivocal press darlings and that night - in a crammed subterranean Liverpool nightclub - they'd played up to their hipper-than-hell indie cred while dressed up in garish orange tops, psychedelic flares and sporting ridiculous haircuts.
Times change, though, and following their - actually quite lengthy - media honeymoon, THE FRANK AND WALTERS suffered a blanket backlash (at least in the UK) that would have easily toppled less hardy souls. Instead, the FRANKS went underground, dug in and consequently still release good - if less celebrated -records to this day.
So, initially you feel for them as they stride on tonight. Soberly dressed in jeans and sweaters - and with brothers NIALL (guitar) and ASHLEY KEATING (drums) sporting no.2 crops - they've got the less than envious task of warming up an outdoor crowd happily ingesting the free mussels (a local West Cork delicacy) doled out with their Guinness.
Happily, though, they're not even remotely fazed and buzz into a set that makes your reviewer smile for several reasons. Firstly, against the strongest odds, THE FRANK AND WALTERS are by no means irrelevant after ten gruelling years in this most fickle business. Tonight's no-nonsense hour-long set plus encore is powerful, enthusiastic and hit-stuffed. Secondly, as bassist/ singer PAUL LINEHAN points out, they've got a "Greatest Hits" LP scheduled for July, "so you can save up for it."
Best of all, however, is the fact that we should! Tonight's well thought out greatest hits set says 'scuse me, knees you in the groin and very quickly reminds you just how many killer tunes THE FRANK AND WALTERS have shoved up their sleeves.
For instance, bet you'd forgotten "Indian Ocean"? Well, your reviewer won't a second time after being doused by its' invigorating musical swell tonight. Or what about "What Colour Is Love?" Or, dispatched early on, a ragged but gripping "Fashion Crisis Hits New York", dedicated by Paul to "all the Northsiders…and the Southsiders."
|
Totally natural in their delivery, remarkably they can still cut it as a cool indie POP trio. Drummer Ashley is a powerhouse, dispensing offbeats to make NOMEANSNO jealous; brother Niall keeps his head down, chopping and changing his three Telecasters, sprinkling his powerchording with some lovely arpeggios, whilst leader Linehan pumps away dependable basslines and sings the band's two biggest hits, "After All" and "This Is Not A Song" with such gusto you'd think they'd only worked them up yesterday.
In keeping with tradition, Linehan dispenses with his bass for the finale - THE FRANK AND WALTERS' inimitable rendition of TONE LOC'S rap/rock crossover hit "Funky Cold Medina" - and dances like a berk just like he did all those years ago. It's a pastiche, sure, but after the diamond - hard enjoyment of the previous hour, we're still prepared to indulge them.
Interspersing the crowd pleasers with several new tunes suggesting there's plenty of poke in the engine yet, Cork's FRANK AND WALTERS snatched a convincing victory from the jaws of a potentially demoralising defeat tonight and showed that instead of succumbing to a "selective" appeal, maybe there's everything still to play for.
Smiles all round, then. What a turn up for the books!
|
